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Underwood
Peter Ford, Eileen Ryall and their young family are on a road trip to Cornwall, caught up in a storm they are forced to sleep in the car out side a place Called Underwood, The next morning the sun is shining, but they are in a place that no one would want to be. Faced with laws issued by the three evil men of Underwood, The sheriff, the judge and the vicar, watched closely by the creature in the woods, can they get out of a place which somehow doesn't really exist. Can a town built on a prison of war site really house such terror? Can he stop them using his daughter as a breeding machine? A car lot that has never sold a car, two wino's who are not what they appear. Underwood. One way in, No way out. The new supernatural thriller from Colin Griffiths.
303 pages, Kindle Edition
First published July 27, 2015
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Displaying 1 - 26 of 26 reviews
September 2, 2019
A young family is lost in South Wales in a small village where's only a way in, but no way out. Who is the evil entity that controls Underwood? Is there a chance for Peter Ford to rescue his family from this obsessed town? I was absolutely surprised about how creepy and compelling this novel was (especially the force of evil). When I started the book I couldn't put it down until I knew its ending. Convincing characters, a really uncanny village and the great motif of losing your way with your car coming to a place you never wanted to go to. Great British horror, stunning and creepy spine tingler. Absolutely recommended!
November 18, 2021
I'm very proud to come up with my second German review. Another great horror novel was released by a German publisher. Here we go:
Peter Ford und seine Familie sind eigentlich auf dem Weg in den Urlaub nach Cornwall. Bei schrecklichem Stau und Unwetter nimmt Peter eine vermeintliche Abkürzung. Sie führt unsere Familie in ein kleines Kaff namens Underwood. Schon auf der verwitterten Ortstafel finden sie die kryptische Botschaft "Ein Weg rein, kein Weg raus". Was hat es damit auf sich? Bald finden sie heraus, dass das Dorf in der Zeit stehengeblieben ist und von einer dämonischen Entität beherrscht wird. Warum stehen Frauen im Zentrum des Interesses? Ich war richtig überrascht, wie gut und spanned dieser Roman war, insbesondere die Verkörperungen des Bösen. Des öfteren musste ich an Stephen Kings Roman Desperation denken doch Colin Griffith hat seine Dämonen noch furchteinflössender gestaltet. Ich konnte das Buch erst weglegen, als ich fertig war. Überzeugende Charactere, ein echt unheimliches Dorf und das tolle Motif einmal falsch abgebogen und für immer verloren zu sein. Richtig guter Horror aus Wales. Überzeugend und extrem unheimlich. Ein echter Horror-Thriller. Top-Tipp!
Peter Ford und seine Familie sind eigentlich auf dem Weg in den Urlaub nach Cornwall. Bei schrecklichem Stau und Unwetter nimmt Peter eine vermeintliche Abkürzung. Sie führt unsere Familie in ein kleines Kaff namens Underwood. Schon auf der verwitterten Ortstafel finden sie die kryptische Botschaft "Ein Weg rein, kein Weg raus". Was hat es damit auf sich? Bald finden sie heraus, dass das Dorf in der Zeit stehengeblieben ist und von einer dämonischen Entität beherrscht wird. Warum stehen Frauen im Zentrum des Interesses? Ich war richtig überrascht, wie gut und spanned dieser Roman war, insbesondere die Verkörperungen des Bösen. Des öfteren musste ich an Stephen Kings Roman Desperation denken doch Colin Griffith hat seine Dämonen noch furchteinflössender gestaltet. Ich konnte das Buch erst weglegen, als ich fertig war. Überzeugende Charactere, ein echt unheimliches Dorf und das tolle Motif einmal falsch abgebogen und für immer verloren zu sein. Richtig guter Horror aus Wales. Überzeugend und extrem unheimlich. Ein echter Horror-Thriller. Top-Tipp!
January 17, 2018
I was drawn to this book from the beginning and it kept me intrigued to the end. Storms, trees that move, scenery that changes, fears that have consumed the residents of a strange town called Underwood will draw you into this mysterious and intriguing story.
April 17, 2017
Love the concept, and it's well paced.
I understand that a better proof read version is on the way.
Like the twist at the end.
I understand that a better proof read version is on the way.
Like the twist at the end.
November 15, 2016
Hauntingly good!!
First time reading a book by this author and a good book it is!!
An old fashioned book of good versus evil, grips you by the throat.
Beware a storm is coming!!
First time reading a book by this author and a good book it is!!
An old fashioned book of good versus evil, grips you by the throat.
Beware a storm is coming!!
April 21, 2022
Als Horror-Film hätte mir das Buch sicher besser gefallen.
Die Idee der Story fand ich sehr spannend und die Charaktere waren gut beschrieben und sympathisch. Auch die Beschreibung von Underwood war sehr lebhaft, wodurch man beim Lesen wirklich in die Story eintauchen kann und mit den Figuren den Horror erlebt.
ABER leider wurde ich immer wieder aus dem Lese-Erlebnis herausgerissen, da das ganze Buch einen sehr einfachen Schreibstil hat… leider hat es sich angefühlt als würde ich den Aufsatz einer Schülerin lesen, nicht einen Horror-Thriller eines erwachsenen Autors.
Außerdem könnte das Buch gute 70 Seiten kürzer sein, da gewisse Szenen oder Gefühlslagen der Charaktere unnötigerweise wiederholt beschrieben wurden, sodass ich gewisse Passagen überflogen, teilweise sogar überblättert habe und nichts (wichtiges) verpasst habe.
Fazit: Super Idee, schlechte Ausführung
Die Idee der Story fand ich sehr spannend und die Charaktere waren gut beschrieben und sympathisch. Auch die Beschreibung von Underwood war sehr lebhaft, wodurch man beim Lesen wirklich in die Story eintauchen kann und mit den Figuren den Horror erlebt.
ABER leider wurde ich immer wieder aus dem Lese-Erlebnis herausgerissen, da das ganze Buch einen sehr einfachen Schreibstil hat… leider hat es sich angefühlt als würde ich den Aufsatz einer Schülerin lesen, nicht einen Horror-Thriller eines erwachsenen Autors.
Außerdem könnte das Buch gute 70 Seiten kürzer sein, da gewisse Szenen oder Gefühlslagen der Charaktere unnötigerweise wiederholt beschrieben wurden, sodass ich gewisse Passagen überflogen, teilweise sogar überblättert habe und nichts (wichtiges) verpasst habe.
Fazit: Super Idee, schlechte Ausführung
April 15, 2019
I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book - wondering what would happen next. I would have given it 4 stars except for the frequent typos and unnecessary swearing, particularly at the beginning of the story. I can understand the strength of emotion portrayed, but it should not be necessary to resort to swear words - a good writer should use alternatives.
However, the storyline is riveting and full of surprises, so I would recommend reading.
However, the storyline is riveting and full of surprises, so I would recommend reading.
May 1, 2019
Unique
A story with a difference. Keeps you interested and wanting to know more. A very well written book, great story teller.
A story with a difference. Keeps you interested and wanting to know more. A very well written book, great story teller.
August 25, 2015
You know it's a cliche, but sometimes there really are books that you just can't put down - books that get under your skin; well, Underwood is just such a book. Although there is nothing particularly unique about the premise; a family trapped somewhere by a quirk of nature and having to confront supernatural beings in order to escape, the author's personal style draws you into the story and demands that you continue reading.
As I said, the situation that Peter Ford, his partner and their two young children find themselves in is not unique, they nevertheless have to find their way out of this non-existent town called Underwood, that exists in a 1970's time-warp and is ruled by a triumverate of evil; a sheriff, a judge and a vicar. To complicate matters some demonic form of creature lives in the woods that surround the town and requires to be fed at regular intervals with his favourite delicacy; fresh human meat. I won't spoil the story for anyone, but really Griffiths get his characterizations spot on and you do identify with them. Equally some of the little plot twists are well thought out and clever. I was impressed by many of the ideas he brought into his tale.
I understand Colin Griffiths is a new writer and from what I can see on his Amazon page, already a very prolific one. It is wonderful that new writers with a story to tell and a passion for telling it are now able to access the world of publishing. It appears to me that Griffiths is well worthy of this new breed and I will definitely be reading his other books in the future.
If you like your supernatural fantasies, with a good spoonful of normal life then Underwood is a great book for you. I would highly recommend this book and hence the five stars I was happy to give it. I am looking forward to hs future releases.
As I said, the situation that Peter Ford, his partner and their two young children find themselves in is not unique, they nevertheless have to find their way out of this non-existent town called Underwood, that exists in a 1970's time-warp and is ruled by a triumverate of evil; a sheriff, a judge and a vicar. To complicate matters some demonic form of creature lives in the woods that surround the town and requires to be fed at regular intervals with his favourite delicacy; fresh human meat. I won't spoil the story for anyone, but really Griffiths get his characterizations spot on and you do identify with them. Equally some of the little plot twists are well thought out and clever. I was impressed by many of the ideas he brought into his tale.
I understand Colin Griffiths is a new writer and from what I can see on his Amazon page, already a very prolific one. It is wonderful that new writers with a story to tell and a passion for telling it are now able to access the world of publishing. It appears to me that Griffiths is well worthy of this new breed and I will definitely be reading his other books in the future.
If you like your supernatural fantasies, with a good spoonful of normal life then Underwood is a great book for you. I would highly recommend this book and hence the five stars I was happy to give it. I am looking forward to hs future releases.
January 19, 2016
There are some stories that could be written in letters the size of a micron on the back of a matchbox and people would still be lining up to buy a microscope to read the book. This is one of them. The author is one of those gifted storytellers who effortlessly enthrall their audience.
I was drawn gently into the trap with the introduction of a normal family of parents and two teenage kids trying to get to a new holiday location in the middle of the mother of all storms. Due to road closures they end up taking a detour, which turns into a deadly experience when they arrive at the village of Underwood where no one leaves. No one can leave. The beast in the surrounding woods makes quite sure of that. What happens in Underwood is outside of anyone's wildest dreams. This is the stuff of nightmares and the epitome of a darn good horror story.
I was drawn gently into the trap with the introduction of a normal family of parents and two teenage kids trying to get to a new holiday location in the middle of the mother of all storms. Due to road closures they end up taking a detour, which turns into a deadly experience when they arrive at the village of Underwood where no one leaves. No one can leave. The beast in the surrounding woods makes quite sure of that. What happens in Underwood is outside of anyone's wildest dreams. This is the stuff of nightmares and the epitome of a darn good horror story.
June 25, 2016
First I want to say I am a fan of M Night Shyamalan, if you know who he is and what great movies he makes then you will get an inkling of what the author of this book is about to share with you as you open the pages.The two minds seem a lot a like to me. In this book, Peter Ford and Eileen Ryall along with their to children Lily and Nathan are taking a family vacation to Cornwall. A storm they are driving through cause confusion and when they think they have found a safe resting spot in a place called Underwood, the family instead wakes up in the middle of a nightmare. I loved this story and the author has done a great job on a supernatural thriller that connects the horrors of the past with the mysteries of today in a place readers won't soon forget.
September 5, 2015
This book was recommended to me by somebody who knows I like mystery & paranormal novels and I wish they hadn't! I bought it straight from my Kindle, which I don't usually, and that's where it stayed until lunchtime today. I've signed in from work before anybody else buys it without reading a bit on Amazon first. If you don't mind capitals where they shouldn't be, incorrect punctuation, and misspelled words, and being miserable stuck in a traffic jam in the rain, send me a message and I'll lend you my copy.
September 7, 2015
This is the second book I have read by this author and by far my favourite.
Underwood starts quickly with a family set on a summer holiday caught by a storm and cornered by potential flooding they go off the beaten track. Lost they wake up in a town Underwood, and like caged hens they are taunted by the 'three town heads' who are holding the entire town to ransom. A brilliantly evil undertone, twists and turns and suspense, and a great ending that leaves you thinking there is more!
Underwood starts quickly with a family set on a summer holiday caught by a storm and cornered by potential flooding they go off the beaten track. Lost they wake up in a town Underwood, and like caged hens they are taunted by the 'three town heads' who are holding the entire town to ransom. A brilliantly evil undertone, twists and turns and suspense, and a great ending that leaves you thinking there is more!
August 26, 2015
This book is really good. A dark and gripping tale that felt a lot like reading a Stephen King. I didn't want to put it down, but unfortunately life got in the way and I had to. In between reading it, I was thinking about it though; it's that good. Griffiths is a really great storyteller. Round a campfire, you'd never sleep afterwards!
May 13, 2022
sehr schwach! Ich hab ehrlicherweise mindestens die Hälfte überbättert. Geschrieben wie von einem
Hauptschüler, ohne Handlung oder Spannung.
Für mich war’s das erste und letzte übernatürliche Buch!
Hauptschüler, ohne Handlung oder Spannung.
Für mich war’s das erste und letzte übernatürliche Buch!
October 8, 2022
Sehr gute, einfache „Horror“ Story, hatte nur das Gefühl das sie zum Ende hin immer schwächer wird, trotzdem eine schöne Geschichte zum gruseln.
December 28, 2022
Gutes Spannendes Buch. Lohnt sich
April 28, 2020
WOW , WOW, WOW!😍 BUY THIS BOOK NOW!😍GET IT!😍
Oh, if you do not get this book, you will not find a !pre EXCITING, HORROR STORY EVER WRITTEN!😍I HAVE READ MANY OTHER AUTHORS BOOKS 📚AND NONE WERE BETTER THAN THIS BOOK!😍 I SO DO RECOMMEND THIS AUTHOR AND THIS BOOK ! 😍BUY THIS BOOK!😍
Oh, if you do not get this book, you will not find a !pre EXCITING, HORROR STORY EVER WRITTEN!😍I HAVE READ MANY OTHER AUTHORS BOOKS 📚AND NONE WERE BETTER THAN THIS BOOK!😍 I SO DO RECOMMEND THIS AUTHOR AND THIS BOOK ! 😍BUY THIS BOOK!😍
October 18, 2015
This book is one hell of a ride! It's fast paced, packed with mystery and plot twists and quite oppressive in its sense of menace. Everything a good thriller should be.
The tagline reads 'One Way In, No Way Out'. The story concerns a family who take a wrong turning in a storm and find themselves in the strange town of Underwood, a place which is completely isolated, a world of its own. And there is no way out. Literally.
The town has been apart from the rest of the world for decades and time has stood still. It is ruled by three men who everyone fears: the sherriff, the judge and the vicar. All three are unnaturally large and exhibit certain shared character traits and habits that suggest they are weirdly linked and may not be altogether human. They rule Underwood with iron fists and their rules are not the kind that Peter Ford and his family have any liking for. The town is surrounded by woods, in which a terrifying creature dwells that devours any who pass under the shadow of the trees.
Every time there is a storm, the trees move and there is the chance that more travellers may be drawn into the town they can never escape.
There are some masterful descriptive passages in this book. The account of the storm in the first chapter is so vivid you can almost hear the rain and thunder.
The plot revolves around the attempts of the Ford family to find a way out of this hell. The background to the town is fed to the reader in snippets, gradually building up a picture of what has happened here. But in a wise move by Griffiths, we aren't given everything on a plate. We discover as much as the Ford family discovers in their bid to get out. Other things are hinted at. We learn enough about the creature in the woods to gradually come to understand its relationship with the three rulers and the town, but we don't know where it came from or how it does what it does. But that's how it should be, because the characters don't know these things either and it would cheapen the story for the reader to simply be told. We don't know how the parallel worlds affect each other, nor how the two old ladies do what they do. And this is great! We learn enough to explain the plot and follow the story and make us shudder as we wonder about the truth of Underwood, but there are still some mysteries left at the end, meaning there's plenty of scope for a sequel, especially in light of the final couple of pages.
You wouldn't in reality want to visit a town like Underwood. But I'd certainly be eager to return there in my reading.
The tagline reads 'One Way In, No Way Out'. The story concerns a family who take a wrong turning in a storm and find themselves in the strange town of Underwood, a place which is completely isolated, a world of its own. And there is no way out. Literally.
The town has been apart from the rest of the world for decades and time has stood still. It is ruled by three men who everyone fears: the sherriff, the judge and the vicar. All three are unnaturally large and exhibit certain shared character traits and habits that suggest they are weirdly linked and may not be altogether human. They rule Underwood with iron fists and their rules are not the kind that Peter Ford and his family have any liking for. The town is surrounded by woods, in which a terrifying creature dwells that devours any who pass under the shadow of the trees.
Every time there is a storm, the trees move and there is the chance that more travellers may be drawn into the town they can never escape.
There are some masterful descriptive passages in this book. The account of the storm in the first chapter is so vivid you can almost hear the rain and thunder.
The plot revolves around the attempts of the Ford family to find a way out of this hell. The background to the town is fed to the reader in snippets, gradually building up a picture of what has happened here. But in a wise move by Griffiths, we aren't given everything on a plate. We discover as much as the Ford family discovers in their bid to get out. Other things are hinted at. We learn enough about the creature in the woods to gradually come to understand its relationship with the three rulers and the town, but we don't know where it came from or how it does what it does. But that's how it should be, because the characters don't know these things either and it would cheapen the story for the reader to simply be told. We don't know how the parallel worlds affect each other, nor how the two old ladies do what they do. And this is great! We learn enough to explain the plot and follow the story and make us shudder as we wonder about the truth of Underwood, but there are still some mysteries left at the end, meaning there's plenty of scope for a sequel, especially in light of the final couple of pages.
You wouldn't in reality want to visit a town like Underwood. But I'd certainly be eager to return there in my reading.
April 28, 2016
This book exceeded my expectations!
What starts as a story of a family on a driving holiday down the coast ends up as a tense, mystery, supernatural thriller!
Peter has to pull off the main motorway when the weather turns bad, and thinking he is doing the right thing by parking the car on an offered for the night, he wakes to find his world turned completely upside down!
Suddenly they are in a new town where everything is underhanded, the citizens are scared, and there are three town leaders who are doing devious things, and they cannot escape. I loved this book, could barely put it down! Great work by Colin Griffiths!
What starts as a story of a family on a driving holiday down the coast ends up as a tense, mystery, supernatural thriller!
Peter has to pull off the main motorway when the weather turns bad, and thinking he is doing the right thing by parking the car on an offered for the night, he wakes to find his world turned completely upside down!
Suddenly they are in a new town where everything is underhanded, the citizens are scared, and there are three town leaders who are doing devious things, and they cannot escape. I loved this book, could barely put it down! Great work by Colin Griffiths!
February 15, 2016
What starts out as a family trip to Cornwall turns out to be a holiday that Peter Ford and his family will never forget. Finding themselves trapped in a non-existent town called Underwood, the family find themselves caught up in a time-warp nightmare, and drawn into a supernatural way of life from which nobody has been able to escape – until now. I found this a totally absorbing corker of a story, cleverly thought out, and written by a master craftsman. Top marks.
Mike
Mike
December 2, 2016
I found this book very imaginative indeed. The story had so many different dimensions to it, was very exciting to read. Colin Griffiths has done it again, never disappoints. Ready for my next read now,. Great stuff!
December 3, 2016
I read this book because I am from a place called underwood. then I realised the story was about the place I lived in. it is an amazing supernatural story, there is a real underwood and a supernatural underwood and their worlds are so different
September 16, 2015
I enjoyed the underlying feeling of unease this story created. And the idea of the storm, being its own character, really was quite good.
May 16, 2016
I loved this book. I thought it was original and fast-paced. The only downside was the lack of editing but if you're able to see beyond that, it's a cracking story and I highly recommend.
December 2, 2016
Wow is all I can say brilliant read once again couldn't put the book down. Brilliant!!!
Displaying 1 - 26 of 26 reviews